Nigeria’s former finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has revealed that her mother was kidnapped due to her moves to stop fuel subsidy.

Speaking with French publication, La Monde, Okonjo-Iweala said,“On my first experience as minister, I wrote a book, Reforming the unreformable (ed. The MIT Press, 2012). For the second, it was really difficult. Nigeria subsidizes fuel. About $ 6.7 billion that it costs, we found that 1.5 billion was fraudulent.

“One importer claimed that his boat was waging its oil while at the other end of the world, according to maritime classification society Lloyd’s Register Marine.

“I told the president that we would stop paying. What happened? They kidnapped my mother, 83 years. During the first three days, their only demand was my resignation. I was supposed to go on television and announce my resignation.

“This was one of the worst moments of my life. Can you imagine what happens in your head if you have to be responsible for the death of your mother?

“I will not go into details, but you must understand that in a country like this… in the fight against corruption, we must be prepared to pay a personal price. My father asked me not to resign. The president asked me not to resign. At the end, everyone began looking for her, and the kidnappers released [her].”

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